Fortnite: everything you need to know about the online game

The craze for Fortnite, especially its multiplayer standalone mode Fortnite Battle Royale, has exploded recently especially amongst children. So, what do you need to know about the video-game of the moment? Peter Yates answers the important questions.

Fortnite is a survival action game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Mac. Players use strategic thinking, creativity, and forward planning to build fortifications while working with teammates to defend survivors and objectives from waves of enemy monsters. The game has a cartoonish style, and the violence, while persistent, is not bloody or particularly gory. The game does push players to make additional in-game purchases, though they are not required to play the game. While the game does not feature any profanity, its online nature could expose younger players to offensive language from random strangers in voice or on-screen text chat. In addition, parents should be aware that a free to play multiplayer mode, called Battle Royale, supports up to 100 players fighting against each other or in teams to be the last player standing.

Naked characters figures in Roblox

Jan18

Through our Online Safety Workshops in schools, we know that many of our children are using the popular children’s app Roblox, many of them having over a 100 online friends. Children openly admit that they do not know all of them and often their parents do not know about these friends.

In resent news articles, Police and the NSPCC are warning parents about popular children’s app Roblox after “naked characters, inappropriate messages and very adult things” where found to be rife in the game.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Any app that allows strangers to send messages to children, particularly when they are of a sexual nature is troubling.

“We would urge parents to have a conversation with their children so they know how to stay safe online. The NSPCC and O2’s Net Aware site offers a no nonsense guide on social networks, apps and games to help adults keep up-to-date with the digital world and keep children safe.”

Snapchat latest updates enables users to see exactly where their friends are, so detailed that if you zoom in you can even see the street location.

This obviously raises safety concerns for children who use the app.

Many children tend to import all their random contacts when they set up their Snapchat so unless they or you check their settings it is possible that all these random strangers will now see an accurate location.

As a matter of urgency we would ask all children and parents to check that Snapchat is changed to ‘Ghost mode’ so that location isn’t shared with friends.

Parent advice: Your child’s age will determine how to proceed. YouTube is supposed to be for users over the age of 13, due to the fact that the parent company, Google, collects and markets user data. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) exempts children from data collection.

But, as we all know, plenty of kids have YouTube channels – below are a couple of sites that will support you to set up a child friendly YouTube channel.

Have you asked your child ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ don’t be surprised if they reply – a YouTuber

How to set up a child friendly YouTube channel

Is it OK for my kid to start her own YouTube channel?

NSPCC NetAware have developed a guide, primarily aimed at parents of 8-12 year olds, about the social networks, apps or games with an interactive element that children use most frequently use.Common Sense media provide age ratings and reviews for many apps, relying on developmental criteria to determine what content is appropriate for which ages.

How to set Parent Controls

Parental controls are designed to help protect children from inappropriate content they may come across online, such as pornography. These controls can be used to limit access to only age-appropriate content, to set usage times and to monitor activity.

Click on the images below to see information on how to set up parental controls.

Thinkuknow is an award-winning education programme from the National Crime Agency’s child protection command, CEOP. It aims to keep children safe from abuse, both online and off. Thinkuknow education resources are age-appropriate, non-scaremongering, and give children the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to stay safe online. They are used by over three and a half million children across the UK each year.

About Play Like Share – Play Like Share follows the adventures of Alfie, Ellie and Sam as they form a band and enter their school’s Battle of the Bands contest, taking on the mean but ‘cool’ Popcorn Wizards as they go. The three friends learn that while the internet can help, they need to use it wisely and safely.

The aim of the films is to help 8-10 year olds learn how to stay safe online. In particular, the films and activities teach them to spot the early signs of manipulative, pressurising and threatening behaviour by people they might meet online, and develops their confidence to respond safely and get help.

Yellow changes its name to YuboRecently there has been an increase in the popularity of the app Yubo amongst children. Yubo is a free mobile app that allows users to interact with new people. The app uses location data to find other Yubo users nearby.What do parents need to know about Yubo

Blue Whale.

This game hit the headlines over a year ago, and thankfully was not mentioned in any of our schools. However, recently we have had a couple of schools raise concerns as it has been mentioned by a few pupils. The document below gives an overview of the game and possible contacts, should you need further support.

Online Safety @school

Online safety @home

How Boltons Schools supported #SID18

Cyberbullying: Understand, Prevent and Respond Guidance for Schools

Cyberbullying is a form of bullying, and research reveals it has increased to affect 12% of young people in this country. This Guidance is designed to support schools in preventing and responding to cyberbullying.